Greedy
by AuggieDeeksNico
Summary: What if Auggie and Clark didn't get into a fight? Don't forget the reviews! Love reviews!
1. Chapter 1

GREEDY

_What would have happened if Auggie didn't hit Clark over the head with a beer bottle. In this story Jai isn't dead._

_K+ rating for fear._

_I don't own any part of CA._

_Annie/Augies & Annie/Eyal_

"No, this guy doesn't get a pass just because he's blind" Clark said ready to have fight.

Auggie stood up, "You're right, but I do get a pass because it was 8 years ago this week that I lost not just my sight but my entire unit. My fiancé left me this morning. No, not just left me, but had her bags packed and a cab waiting when I woke up. And my best friend who should be here drinking with me is instead out there saving the world again and I'm stuck behind a damned desk."

Clark was shocked and stopped talking long enough to process what the blind guy said. "You're right dude, you do a get pass for that." Clark sat down and ordered them both beers. The girl that was the start of all this, shook her head and left.

They sat there for an hour just drinking and talking. "Let me get this straight," Clark said. "Your fiancé left you and your best friend is a hot blonde?"

"Beautiful blonde, so I have been told. Yep."

"And you haven't banged your friend yet but you keep track of her men and do your best to stop them getting together?"

"I don't do that. I just make sure they are good men. She has terrible taste in guys when not choosing best friends."

"Dude, you told me 10 minutes ago that you keep making sure she has appointments that interfere when she has a date. That's keeping them apart. You just don't want to share. You are a greedy bastard."

That startled Auggie. Is that what he had done? Did he purposely keep men away from Annie so she would be available whenever he wanted to hang with her?

"Oh man, a bodacious blonde just walked in!" Clark said. "Oh she looks like…Oh man she is checking me out. Do I have anything in my teeth?"

"Want me to punch you in the mouth to find out? Hello, blind guy here!"

"Yea sorry. Oh! She's coming over."

Auggie could detect a familiar click click click of heels. He took a deep inhale to find grapefruit in the air. That is a sound and smell I recognize. He turned to face her. "Well, Miss Walker. Won't you join us?"

Clark was dumbfounded. "How do you know it's her?"

Annie and Auggie said together: "Some call it a sixth sense, but I prefer to think of it as a fifth." And then they burst out laughing.

When they stopped laughing Auggie introduced them. "Miss Annie Walker this is Clark…. I don't know you last name."

"Clark Michelson. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you. You guys look like you are out of beer. I'll get the next round, unless you are ready to leave Auggie." Annie was looking around the room and spotted Jai and Reva having a drink together in a quiet corner. Annie smiled at their picture. _Go Jai. Go Reva._

"He's not leaving. He said he was waiting for his best friend who is out saving the world again."

"Out saving the world, huh? Maybe the world of art." Clark looked a question at her. "Yea, here I am, the bests friend. Auggie? Going?"

"Nope. I haven't passed out yet. You driving tonight?"

"I guess so. I'm going to get a soda and I'll bring back some more beer. Looks like it is going to be a long night." She left to get the drinks.

"Dude, THAT'S your best friend? And you haven't touched that yet? Are you gay or something?"

Auggie laughed. "No, she thinks of me as her friend and I'm keeping it that way."

"Why?"

"Because…because…I have never had such a good friend. I've had friends but she and I connected the first day I met her. We have been co-workers and friends ever since. It means more to me to have her in my life that way. If we got together, that would change, maybe for the worse."

"So, you being the greedy bastard that you are, are going to keep her in your life, but not think of her life? Dude, if she looked at me the way she looks at you, I'd never let go." Clark looked over to where Annie was waiting for the drinks. His voice turned serious "There might be a problem."

Auggie's head snapped up; she looked at him in a special _way_? What way?

But that wasn't what Clark was talking about. "Someone is trying to mess with your girl." Auggie smiled. He knew Annie could handle herself.

Annie was back in a few minutes with the drinks. "Jerks! Dumb college drunks."

Clark leaned over to Auggie "You are one greedy bastard."

Annie heard the comment and looked at them. "What does that mean?"

"Nothing" Auggie stated cutting Clark off.

An hour later Annie excused herself to use the restroom. Unbeknownst to her, she was watched as she made her way through the bar.

On her way back she was stopped again by the same drunk college guys from before. "Really?! Just leave me alone."

"I think you want to come party with us." He said as he grabbed her by the arm.

She coldly looked at him, "remove your hand from my arm before I removed your hand from _your_ arm." Her voice carried over the crowd and grabbed Jai's, Reva's, Auggie's & Clark's attention.

"Auggie man, those same jerks are messing with Annie again. One of them grabbed her." Clark started to move toward the group, just as Jai did. Reva had her cell phone out and was recording everything that happened. Auggie, who was very drunk, stood up but lost his balance and had to sit down again. "Auggie, this isn't good. There's another guy coming up behind Annie."

Before anyone else moved, the first thug stopped moving and started to wince in pain.

A slightly accented voice said "You should let the lady go. It's not nice to be this bothersome. So before I have to do something that will cause you extreme pain, before _she_ has to do something to cause you extreme pain, release her arm and go away." The thug nodded and was released. The thug moved to hit the accented man but was not fast enough. He found himself face-planted into the nearest table before anyone could even blink. Jai, Reva and the bouncers were there quickly. Reva showed them the video of what happened and after that the bouncers escorted the group of thugs out the door.

"Sorry to ruin your date again guys." Annie said to Jai and Reva.

"No problem Annie. Isn't the first time, probably won't be the last time. Trouble seems to follow you. But if we have to be interrupted, at least Reva was smart enough to video it. Saves a lot of time dealing with the police. She's smart that way. " Jai smiled at Reva and put his arm around her. "But we are going to leave before more trouble shows up." Reva was blushing as they returned to their table, paid their bill and left.

Auggie was listening to this whole conversation. _Jai and Reva? When did that happen?_

Annie turned to face the man who had helped her out. "EYAL! I am so glad that you are here. Not just because you came to my rescue. What are you doing here?" The smile lit up her face and before she could think too much about it, she threw her arms around his neck and gave him a hug.

Surprised but pleased, Eyal returned the hug. "I'm on vacation!"

"No way! Really, what are you doing here?"

"Honest, I'm on vacation. I needed a break and I thought, 'what is Annie doing'. So here I am; saving you. Again."

"Come on. The least I can do is buy you a drink."

"At least" he said as he followed her, his eyes taking in her every move.

As they moved back to the table Clark leaned over to Auggie "Dude you got competition. She is into him."

"Not for long" Auggie stated.

"Greedy Bastard!" Clark said with a smirk.

As Annie and Eyal arrived at the table, introductions were made.

"How do you two know each other?" Clark asked.

"Business. Auggie and I work for the Smithsonian. Eyal works for the National Museum in Israel. We have come across each other a few times."

"And what about that Indian guy? He work for the museum as well?"

Annie just shrugged and moved the conversation along. "Those guys were such jerks. I really thought there was going to be trouble. Well, more trouble than there was." Annie smiled at Eyal and with a high pitched voice and fluttering eyelashes, "My hero."

Eyal laughed, "What about my drink? I thought you were buying?"

"I am" She signaled to their waitress to bring another pitcher of beer, another glass and another soda for her.

"You're not drinking?"

"No. I'm the driver tonight so enjoy. I'll get you back to your hotel nice and safe." The imagery was not lost on anyone at the table.

The timber in his voice dropped and he watched her closely "will you tuck me in to?"

"Ok Walker, I think I'm ready to leave." Auggie announced out of the blue as he stood up; a determined look on his face.

"Um…No." Annie answered and Auggie's eyes widened. "I ordered another pitcher and Eyal just got here. I can get you a cab if you want, but I'm staying for a while." Auggie dropped back into his seat as Annie leaned back into her chair and noticed that Eyal had his arm protectively draped on the back of her chair.

Clark saw the look on Auggie's face, noticed the non-verbal communication between Annie and the new guy and said as he chuckled into his beer, "greedy bastard".


	2. Chapter 2

Greedy

Chapter 2

Thank you all for the reviews; makes a person feel good.

For those of you wondering where the story was going to go, welcome to my club. I had intended this as a one-shot, but it was fun writing Auggie & Clark banter; then Eyal entered the mix. I don't have a clue where this will go. We will see.

Still don't own any part of CA.

It had been about an hour since Eyal arrived and Annie, Eyal & Clark sat at Allen's chatting while Auggie sat with them, listening and sulking.

Auggie could tell from the conversation between Annie and Eyal that she really liked him and he liked her. _This sucks! Why can't we leave? Oh yea, Eyal is here. Joy! I am not nearly drunk enough to deal with all this right now._ "Can we get more beers here? Please!" Auggie yelled above the din in the bar hoping their waitress heard his plea.

Auggie's outburst for beer brought Clark's attention back to Auggie as the other two continued talked. Looking at Auggie, Clark really understood what the word "petulant" meant. Finally he leaned over to Auggie, "Dude, if you want your girl to still be your girl, I suggest you stop acting like 1. A sulking teenager and 2. A greedy bastard."

"I am not sulking. I am getting as drunk as possible." Auggie slurred his words just ever so slightly. "I plan to get so drunk she has to carry me to bed."

Clark raised his eyebrows. "That's the master plan? Get so drunk she takes you home first and then leaves to take him home? And from the looks they are giving each other, probably staying the night with him?" Clark rolled his eyes, "Good plan."

Even though Auggie was pretty drunk, that gave him pause. "Not a good plan," he agreed, then he looked in Clark's general direction with a smirk, "but it's mine."

"Changed my mind, you are NOT a greedy bastard. You are a sulking greedy **stupid** bastard. No wonder you lost the other one and are losing this one."

"Shut up. I'm not losing her. She is still my bestest friend. The other one? Oh yea. Shit my master plan of getting so drunk I forgot about Parker almost worked. Why did you have to remind me?"

"Sorry bud, but some plans are doomed from the beginning." Auggie gave him a look of complete annoyance but Clark just chuckled. "And if you still think Annie is _just_ your best friend, then drink up." Clark said as he refilled Auggie's beer from the pitcher that was just delivered. "But don't be surprised if you find yourself in a cab for your ride home." Clark raised his voice so Annie and Eyal could hear him. "Speaking of home, I am out. I need to get home. Work tomorrow. Annie and Eyal it was a pleasure meeting you, drinking with you and I hope we can do it again sometime."

"You ok to drive?" Annie asked.

"Yep, I stopped drinking shortly after you got here. I know my limits. I just kept GB drinking 'cause he seemed to need it." He shook their hands, "And GB," he address Auggie, "Good Luck. You really need it."

Auggie was not happy. "Ass." Clark smiled and started to wave goodbye but was stopped.

"GB? What does that mean?" Annie asked.

"Ask him" Clark laughed and pointed to Auggie as he headed to the door.

"Auggie? What does GB stand for?"

Clark stopped just inside earshot to hear what Auggie would say. "Nothing important" Auggie replied.

Suddenly "GREEDY BASTARD!" was heard from over by the door followed by laughter just before Clark disappeared into the night.

"He called you a greedy bastard? Why?" Annie asked

In an effort to avoid answering the question Auggie said "I guess the party is breaking up. Just like me and Parker. Walker, can I please get a ride home now?"

Annie looked at Eyal and smiled. Her eyes never left Eyal's eyes as she said, "Sure Aug. I'll take you home." She stood and gathered her stuff as Auggie did the same. "Eyal? Do you want a lift?"

"No, I have my rental." Annie gave him a hug and started to lead Auggie out of the bar. "Annie." She turned and waited for him but Auggie continued to walk toward the door. Eyal leaned in and whispered in her ear the name and room number of his hotel. "If you're game" He said a little louder. Annie just smiled at him and caught up with Auggie. Eyal watching them leave.

"Auggie if you yak in my car, you will hate yourself forever."

"I'm not that drunk. I'm just drunk enough to know not to drive."

"Oh so funny." Annie said as she rolled her eyes at him.

"Hate myself? Tell me you didn't bring the 'Vette! For city driving? Walker you should know better." Auggie was just about beside himself.

"Relax, I was just kidding. I didn't bring the 'Vette. But if you yak in my car you will regret it for the rest of your life." He smiled and let he lead him to her little red VW.

When they got to Auggie's, Annie helped him up the stairs and into his apartment. Auggie moved forward as Annie was reaching for the light. Suddenly she heard a loud bang and "Ouch! Shit!"

When Annie turned on the light she saw why Auggie was sprawled on the floor. His place was trashed. Clothes and furniture where all over the place and dishes were laying in pieces by the wall. "Auggie, what happened here?"

"Annie, my sweet, my best friend, what do you think happened here?"

"Auggie, sarcasm is not attractive." She said as she picked a path through the mess to help Auggie up. As he stood he 'lost his balance' and just happened to grab her in a hug to steady himself.

"Parker left me Annie; after I read her in. She left. What am I going to do?"

"First you are going to sleep off your drunk. We will talk in the morning. Come on; let me help you to bed." She lead him through the mess, up the stairs and over to his bed. He was about to fall into bed when she reminded him that he was still dressed. "At least take your shoes off." He kicked his shoes off and then started to strip so Annie turned away. "I'll just go let myself out. I'll call you in the morning."

"Thanks Annie."

"It's what friends do." Before she reached the door she could hear Auggie snoring. _He is going to kill himself in the morning with this mess. Friends do more than bring you home._ She thought.

She found her cell phone and after a quick check with *411 she had the number of the Eyal's hotel. Before she knew it she was connected with his room. "Eyal, it's Annie. I'm not going to make it over there tonight. Auggie's place is trashed like a tornado went through here. I'm going to stay and clean it up so he doesn't hurt himself in the morning." She listened to Eyal give a small complaint. "I know, but he is in a really bad place right now. His fiancé left him this morning. That's what all the drinking was about. I need to be here for him." Eyal said he understood and would see her sometime tomorrow. Actually he made her promise to see him tomorrow which just made her smile. He was definitely up to something.

She put her phone away and started to straighten the furniture first. When the living room and office area were arranged, she started to put his clothes away. Surprised at how many clothes he actually had, she was a little daunted about the task at hand. She gathered up as much as she could carry and walked quietly up to his walk-in closet just off the bedroom. She dropped his clothes on the floor and made a trip into his bedroom for the rest. She tried to figure out what went where but finally decided that as long as it was hung up, shirts with shirts, pants with pants etc. he could find it. It took almost an hour just to hang everything back up.

As she turned to leave the closet she looked over at him, he was shirtless but had managed to get the sheet pulled around him. She just shook her head and went to start on the kitchen and the broken dishes.

After three hours of cleaning, she was almost done. One more trip to the door with the now full garbage pail of broken dishes and she could leave. She had taken off her shoes when she was done sweeping up the broken mess from the hardwood floors so she wouldn't make any noise to wake him, so she was barefoot when she stepped on something sharp. "Ouch!" she said louder than she expected. She reached down and found Parker's engagement ring on the floor. She developed a sad smile on her face as she reached down and picked it up.


	3. Chapter 3

Greedy

Chapter 3

_Thanks to my very helpful beta reader, Evenmoor, I realized that I didn't do a good summary or backdrop. Here you go: Jai isn't dead. Auggie and Annie are still in the DPD therefore Simon is not in this story. _

_This story hasn't gone where I thought it would go, but I like it better. I'm changing the genre to hurt/comfort/friendship. _

_And thanks to Arwen for the encouragement, it's very much appreciated._

**I don't now nor will I ever own any part of Covert Affairs….sadness**

Annie started to step forward forgetting that the trash can, full of broken dishes was in front of her. She step right into it, losing her balance, stubbing her bare toes and tipping the trash can over. She grabbed on to the counter for balance and uttered a loud "OUCH!" The dishes made an even louder racket as they spilled out of the over turned trash can and once again hit the floor.

Auggie woke with a start "Parker?" When he didn't get an immediate reaction, he walked to edge of his bedroom loft, "Parker?" he said again with hope in his voice.

Annie turned toward his voice, "No Auggie, sorry, it's just me." She had heard the hope in his voice when he called out Parker's name and it tore at her heart to hear it from her friend knowing that Parker wasn't coming back.

"Annie? What are you doing here?" There was sadness in his voice that replaced the hope, but he was glad Annie was there.

"This place was a mess. I wasn't about to let you break your neck trying to pick your way through here again. Seeing you sprawled on the floor once was enough."

"You cleaned?" He was surprised. He also wondered, "What woke me?"

"That was me tripping over the garbage can." As she said that Auggie started to come down the stairs. "Stay there; there is glass and stuff all over the floor; again." She noticed she was still holding the ring so she put it on the island and grabbed the broom and dustpan and started sweeping up. When it was done, "You can come down now if you want." She picked up the trash can and moved it to the door.

Auggie entered the kitchen and leaned on the island, Annie came back and leaned against the counter next to him. "I thought you would have gone back to bed."

"I need some water."

"Let's see what you still have to drink from." Annie searched the cupboards and found the wine glasses were still whole. She filled one and handed it to him.

"A wine glass?"

"It's all you have left my friend."

"Great. Just great." He drank the entire glass of water with a nagging thought in his head, "Please tell me I didn't break all the coffee mugs."

"Most of them, yep. You had two that were left mostly whole. One had a chip out of the rim so I tossed it and the other has a broken handle. But you can still drink out of it just be careful holding it."

Auggie's shoulders slumped "Shit! Now I really do feel stupid." He started to feel light headed again as the water entered his system. "I think I'm still drunk."

"You probably are considering how much you drank with Clark's help of course. I'm still not quite sure about the GB nickname though." She tried to sneak the comment/question in while he was distracted.

The reminder of Clark made Auggie smile. "Yea. He was alright." But Auggie didn't elaborate about the nickname.

"Auggie, I'm going to go. It's already 2:30. Go back to bed and sleep the rest of it off."

"I don't think I want to go back to bed." He had placed his empty wine glass onto the island right next to where Annie has put the ring. He placed his hands on the counter unknowingly right on top of the ring. He fingered the ring he found under his hand and his voiced dropped to a mere whisper, "Or be alone. Can you stay?"

Annie gave an inaudible sigh, "Sure Aug." She got another wine glass down and filled it with water for herself and re-filled Auggie's glass. Handing it to him; "Let's go into the living room. Be careful walking around in here though. I think I got everything back into place, but I'm not sure. Right now the path is clear from here to the couch."

He took a couple of steps but was wobbly from being light headed. Annie brushed her hand against his as an offer of help if he wanted it.

He took Annie's offered arm to help him balance. She led him to the couch and he sat down at one end; Annie sat at the other end facing each other. There was a long pregnant pause as Annie didn't know what to say and Auggie just sat there with his eyes closed.

Five minutes later, still with no conversation, Annie's nerves were a little jagged from wanting to help her friend but not knowing how. "So….you wanna talk? Watch TV? What?"

"When did Jai and Reva happen?"

She wasn't expecting him to ask about that. "Um…about 3 months ago. They're good for each other. He's less…arrogant and she is less…robotic." Auggie smiled at the description of Reva. "He still smiles a lot but now it's a real smile not a cocky grin but a real smile."

"What happened?" Auggie was trying to lose himself in the conversation of someone else's love life.

"We were at a bar drinking one night," Annie said as Auggie's eyes got bigger.

He interrupted her "You went out with Jai?" He couldn't believe she would go out with Jai Wilcox of all people.

She rolled her eyes and smirked at the shocked look on his face. "No, now shush and listen if you want to hear the story." Annie said but he heard the smile in her voice. Auggie cast his eyes down so she couldn't see that he was happy she didn't go out with Jai. "Jai, Reva and I were out having a drink. He made some snarky comment about family or love…I don't remember what it was exactly and Reva asked him if he really believed what he just said. He said he did and she just looked at him and said, and this I will never forget because of the look on Jai's face afterwards, but she said 'You were not raised right'. I thought Jai's eyes were going to fall out of his head he was so shocked." She laughed at the memory of Jai's face.

"She does know who his dad is right?"

"Yep, but it was just an off the cuff comment that apparently got under his skin. Later he asked me what she meant and did he really come off like that to his friends. She approached me and asked if she did something wrong because he was avoiding her….Look Auggie, I know you don't really want to talk about Jai and Reva so what's going on?"

"What's to talk about? She left after I read her in. She had her bags packed and a cab waiting downstairs when I woke up. She wanted to leave the night before but I convinced her to wait until the morning to make any decision about it. I really thought she would change her mind in the light of day. And you thought your read-in of Danielle went bad."

"She kicked me out. Remember?"

"Yea but she's still your sister and eventually you moved back in; Parker has decided to no longer be in my life. She said she was holding onto Billy by holding on to me and she needed to move forward. Before we even started dating she said that it took her a long time to get over Billy's death and that she needed to move on and that being with me was just another way to hold him."

"If she said that she didn't want to be with you because of Billy, how did you end up together?"

"We never did talk about this did we?"

"Nope."

"She kissed me, after telling me she couldn't be with me, then I kissed her back and we…have been together ever since."

Silence fell between them as Annie didn't know what to say.

"I'm sorry." He gave her a sour look. "Lame, agreed, but that's all I have." She took a hold of his hand and just held on so he knew he wasn't alone. "Oh and I talked to Joan, you have tomorrow and the day after off and why you needed the days off. She thinks you need to decompress."

A look of something Annie couldn't identify crossed Auggie's face. "Good, I plan to drink myself into a complete coma for the next 2 days."

She released his hand, reached over and slapped Auggie's face. She was as surprised as Auggie was. "Auggie Anderson! You stop that idea right now. I am not going to spend the next 2 days babysitting you while you go on a bender! I gave up what would have been a very enjoyable evening with Eyal to take of you. So don't be an idiot."

Auggie was shocked, "You SLAPPED me?!"

"It wasn't a hard slap, just something to get your attention. Best friends are allowed to do that. It's in the Best Friends handbook; under the chapter 'Saving friends from doing something stupid'." She smirked. "And I _will_ do it again if I have to so pull your head out of your ass and deal with what's going on in your life. Drinking yourself sick isn't going to help." She took his left hand in her right hand again and entwined their fingers.

"You slapped me" he mumbled, feeling completely chastised because he has once again realized he was being Clark's description of a 'greedy bastard.' He was about to put his wants in front of her wants. Just like last night. _But she did agree to be his driver before Eyal showed up so, was he really being a GB?_ He thought.

She gave his hand a squeeze, "Oh Augs, you have been walking around in a love fog for 4 months."

"No I haven't."

"Oh yes you have. You have been doing your job, but when was the last time we went out for drinks or watched a movie? Did you know that Danielle is moving to California? That Barber has been dieting? I think he has a girlfriend. You didn't even know that Jai and Reva are dating."

He closed his eyes and his face fell at the truth of her words.

She recognized the look on his face. "It's ok Augs. Really." She gave his hand a squeeze. "I think Barber is in the same place. I know I was when I was with Ben." She flashed back at the memories as Auggie listened carefully to her voice as well as her words. "That all-consuming feeling of wanting to spend every second with that person. Feeling goofy when some else suddenly notices you have been staring off into space for 10 minutes while you're remembering something about your special person. Laughing for no reason at the stupidest things; wanting to rush home to tell them every little thing about your day." She paused when she realized it wasn't Ben she was talking about but how she felt about Auggie. She cleared her throat, "Of course it was a little different for me and Ben since we were together all the time in a foreign country, but the feelings are still the same."

Auggie sat there and wondered if he really felt all those things with Parker. Yea, he did feel that way about Parker, to some degree. But he also realized that it was his feelings for Annie that she was describing to a T. There was a little niggle of hope that some day Annie would feel that way about him.

"You will get past this Auggie. The pain does lessen and then one day it's gone. Trust me on this one."

"What did you do to lessen the pain?"

"Easy, I was accepted at the Farm and threw myself into the training, until I was pulled off at least. Then I had you and the work and Danielle to distract me."

"Awesome." He said knowing that some of those were not options for him. At least he had work and he had Annie. She would always be there for him, right? Or was thinking like that being a greedy bastard again?

"Auggie, go to bed." Annie said pulling Auggie's attention back to her. "Sleep some more. Maybe when you wake up, things will seem a millimeter better than they do right now. The day after tomorrow it will be better and the next day and the next day, etc. etc. etc. You will get through this. And you still have me; except right now because I'm going home to get some sleep. I have to work in the morning or rather later today." She said as she looked at her phone for the time.

"Drinks at Allen's after work?" Auggie asked as he gave her hand a last squeeze before she pulled it away to find her shoes.

"Sorry Auggie, but I'm pretty sure I will be busy after work." She smiled to herself thinking of Eyal.

"Oh, right; Eyal." He tried to keep the note of dislike out of his voice, but didn't think he succeeded.

She ignored the comment and the way he said it as she put her shoes on and gathered her stuff. He walked her to the door, "Again, be careful walking through here, get some sleep and buy some coffee mugs in the morning." She gave him a kiss on the cheek and a hug and then left.

He did just what she said. He carefully walked back to bed, noting that so far everything felt like it was back into its proper place. That was Annie for you. He made it back to his bed and laid down. After about 30 minutes of random stupid mostly-drunk thoughts floating in and out of his head, he fell into sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Greedy

Chapter 4

So many follows! Thank you so much! I'm honored.

Don't forget to review if you want to and I'd love it…so…. :-D

As usual, I don't own anything.

Thanks Arwen for the help and encouragement.

CACACACACACACACACA

When he woke up several hours later, he could feel the warm sun on his face and a massive headache right behind his eyes. The sun on his face told him it was afternoon. He touched his clock, "1:17pm" it chirped. _Still too early! _He thought and dropped his face back into his pillow.

Apart from the sun on his face and the headache behind his eyes, he also realized that his mouth felt like something he accidently touched once on the one and only time he ever took the subway. Between the feeling in his mouth and the incessant need to use the bathroom, he decided it was time to get up no matter how much he didn't really want to.

Rolling over, _I was laying on my stomach?,_ he scooted to the edge of the bed, _I was lying ACROSS the bed?,_ and slowly made his way to the bathroom.

After a shower, taking three Advil and cleaning himself up, paying particular attention to his teeth, he went to his closet. Even though he didn't find anything where it usually was he was still happy that all the shirts were clustered, all the pants were clustered together, the sweaters, the vests, etc. He smiled a giant smile as he pictured Annie standing in his closet hang up his clothes. He took his time and slowly put everything back into its place.

Done with that and dressed he decided that it was best to walk the apartment with his cane to make sure everything was where it belonged. _Cane? Where is my cane? I had it when we left the bar didn't I? I don't remember bringing my cane home?_ _SHIT! Binge drinking on an empty stomach=BAD! Ok. Make it to the door and start walking the apartment from there." _With his hands out stretched he slowly made his way through the apartment to the front door not tripping once. He reached the door and turned to face the apartment. He reached out his right hand and found the table where it belonged and to his surprise and joy he found his cane and his house keys right where they were supposed to be.

He picked up his cane from the table, _thank you Annie Walker_, and checked out the apartment. Starting with the living area and workspace he discovered that only the coffee table was a couple of feet out of place. Checking out the kitchen he realized that the coffee mugs weren't the only things broken; the plates, glasses and bowls were also broken. Shaking his head, he now understood why Annie had given him a wine glass to drink water from.

Sighing and in desperate need of coffee he decided that rather than making coffee and drinking it out of his one useable yet damaged coffee mug, he would go in search of coffee that's already made. He walked down to the neighborhood bodega for his coffee then headed over to Pier 1 to buy new place settings.

As he started walking to the store he smiled; Annie had been right. He was in fact having a better day today than yesterday and realized that it was because he kept thinking about Annie Walker. God Bless the day Annie Walker with her Jo Malone Grapefruit perfume and Louboutin heels clicked into his life.

Once he got to Pier 1 he decided that Annie would probably have a good time helping him pick out the new stuff so he called her.

When she finally answered he heard that she was a little breathless. "Auggie? What's up?"

"You sound winded. What are you doing?"

"Eyal and I are hiking Rock Creek Park. Everything ok?"

He had forgotten she was with Eyal. His stomach dropped to the floor, the smile left his face and his day was officially ruined. "Nothing really. Just checking in; buying coffee mugs."

"Good, don't break these." There was a pause on both sides of the conversation, "I'll see you later then?"

"Yea, have fun." And he hung up before she could say anything else. He hailed a sales associate, "I need some white coffee mugs, will you help me?" The associate led him to the white coffee mugs and he grabbed the first box of mugs he touched, paid for them and went home. The rest, he decided can wait for when Annie could come along. He was annoyed that she couldn't be there with him now. _I guess it's just my inner 'Greedy Bastard' coming out again."_ He thought which in turn reminded him of Clark. Clark, reminded him of Allen's and lots and lots and lots of drinks.

Except he promised Annie that he wouldn't drink himself into a coma; so he doesn't drink himself into a coma he reasoned. _It doesn't mean that I can't have two drinks…or maybe four, definitely not more than six or a dozen. After all getting drunk is NOT drinking myself into a coma._ Making that decision, he called his car service and headed back to Allen's.

When he walked into the bar, it was fairly empty. He checked his watch and realized it was only 4:40pm. He chose a table toward the outer edge but close enough to the center that he could hear anyone that he knew when they came in. Hoping he would hear Annie but not wanting to look obvious about it, he took the seat that put the door to his right.

"Auggie! How's it going? Kinda early for you isn't it? Where's your better half?"

Auggie's brain stumbled over that one; his better half? He didn't remember ever bringing Parker here. _Oh, she must mean Annie. My better half, huh? I like that, _he thought. "Emma, my favorite server, I am well but thirsty. I have today and tomorrow off so here I am hoping you will bring me some libation in the form of many, many beers. Annie is with someone else right now." His words and the look on his face when he said it led Emma to only one conclusion.

"Auggie, I'm so sorry, I didn't know you two had broken up. That's really sad. You two always seemed so perfect together. What happened? Do you want to talk about it?"

"Emma, it's not what you think." _Did everybody know what he was obviously too stupid to know?_ He thought. "Annie and I never dated. We're just friends."

"Yea, sure you were. The exs always want to remain friends", she said putting air quotes around the word as if he could see them, "after they bust the crap out of your heart. I'll bring beers; many, many beers."

"And food. I promised not to drink myself into a coma and since I haven't eaten since yesterday…I think I ate yesterday…? Anyway, I need food."

"Ok." She shook her head and sighed as she left to get the beers and food.

Auggie was surprised. She didn't let him order; strange. Emma returned in a few minutes with a pitcher of beer and some water. "I didn't order" Auggie said.

"That's all right, Auggie. I gotcha covered. Pitcher and glass are at 12:00." She said as she again walked away. Within minutes she was back. "Ok. At 10 o'clock you have fries, at 12 o'clock you have a plate of chili dogs and I moved your glass & pitcher of beer to 2 o'clock. Enjoy."

"Emma, how did you know?"

"It's my job. I have been waitressing here since before you showed up. I know what all my regulars like. Say Thank You with money." She smiled and left again.

His stomach growled and he dug into his chili dogs and fries.

Half way through his meal he inhaled an unmistakable scent; Tom Ford Azure Lime.

"Well, it can't be good when you are sitting by yourself, wolfing down what? Chili dogs and fries?"

Auggie swallowed his mouthful of food, "Jai Wilcox. What brings you here so early in the evening?"

Jai sat down at the table facing the door, "Amazingly enough, I'm at odd ends." With another mouthful of food Auggie gave him a quizzical look. "Reva cancelled our plans for tonight. She's working on some project that needs to get done. Where's Annie?"

"Why does everyone ask me that? We aren't joined at the hip." Auggie's face showed frustration at the question but he continued, "She is out with Eyal." Jai was not surprised at the new look of unhappiness on his face when he told him where Annie was.

Jai scoffed, "Not joined at the hip? Since when? You too have been, to use your words, joined at the hip since the day she walked into the Agency."

Before Auggie could reply a new voice was heard from. "Hey! GB! Didn't think I would see you back here so soon. Where's that hot Annie?" Auggie rolled his eyes and Jai barked a laugh.

"Annie is out with someone else tonight." Jai answered for him. "I'm Jai. What's the GB stand for?"

"Greedy Bastard. I'm Clark, nice to meet you. You were here last night right? With the cute burnette? Where's she?"

"She is still at work."

"Man, seems like all the women are off doing things tonight without us." There was a pause, "Guys night out, I guess." He said as he smiled. "But there aren't enough glasses to go around." He signaled Emma over. "Two more glasses and another pitcher please."

"Where's your girl tonight?" Auggie asked

"I don't have one right now. Actually not since about a week ago."

"But the girl last night?"

"My co-worker trying to cheer me up." Clark answered. Emma brought the glasses and a new pitcher for the table. "I've got this round, Jai gets the next round." Clark volunteered.

The three men sat around their table, drinking, wondering what they were supposed to say now. Finally Jai stumbled on to a topic, "What does Greedy Bastard mean anyway?"

Clark chuckled, "See Auggie here is a Greedy Bastard. He wants all the girls for himself and he doesn't want to share any of them."

"I do not. Now you're just exaggerating."

"Oh really? Clark questions. "You were engaged to a lovely brunette, Parker, while at the same time making sure Annie didn't have time to find someone to be with so you could hang out with her whenever you wanted to. Sound about right?"

Auggie flushed with embarrassment at the break down Clark gave. "You make it sound worse than it was."

Jai interrupted, "You were engaged?!" This actually made Jai angry. "You…You…You…" he stammered to a halt because he couldn't think of the right nasty thing to call Auggie for treating Annie like that. He took a breath and started over, "You got engaged to someone else even though you're in love with Annie? I never thought you were so stupid. And Greedy!" He pointed at Clark then at Auggie, "You're right, he's greedy and a bastard!"


	5. Chapter 5

Greedy

Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own anything; not CA or Rod Stewart or his song 'Your In My Heart'. Check out the lyrics, they really do apply to these two people.

Reviews are great and make me happy.

_**LAST CHAPTER: **_

_Jai interrupted, "You were engaged?!" This actually made Jai angry. "You…You…You…" he stammered to a halt because he couldn't think of the right nasty thing to call Auggie for treating Annie like that. He took a breath and started over, "You got engaged to someone else even though you're in love with Annie? I never thought you were so stupid. And Greedy!" He pointed at Clark then at Auggie, "You're right, he's greedy and a bastard!"_

"Oh! I am NOT! Annie is my best friend and that's all I am to her." Auggie stated firmly.

"Liar. You just don't want to share." Clark stated again finding the humor in the situation. Unfortunately, he was the only one to see the funny.

It was a physical effort for Jai not to punch both men in the face; Auggie for being stupid and Clark for being annoying. This was Annie they were talking about after all. His hand was balled into a fist on the table while the other hand squeezed tightly around his beer glass. "Are you blind, dude?" Jai didn't realize the statement he just made.

They both heard the snort of laughter from Clark and turned to glare at Clark. "What? Do you realize what you just said?" Clark tried to wipe the smile from his face but it just kept creeping back.

Finally, Auggie turned back towards Jai. "What's your point?"

"Auggie," Jai started with a restrained sigh "If you were to really think about everything that has happened over the last two years, how can you possibly say she only sees you as a friend?"

"We both know she was burned before and we both know by who and why." Auggie gave Jai a pointed look. "So…" Auggie was at a loss for where this statement could go so he just stopped talking.

Clark piped up at that point. "We need some help. Three men sitting at a bar talking about problems with women and our 'feelings'," he air quoted for the word 'feelings', "just doesn't seem right." Looking around the bar he spotted the person he was after. Raising his voice, "EMMA!"

Jai and Auggie were startled, "what are you doing?" Auggie asked.

Emma looked up to see who had shouted her name. She spotted Clark gesturing for her to come over. Walking over to the table she glared at Clark, "I don't need to be shouted at gentlemen. I've been keeping an eye on you. If you need something, just signal."

"Sorry." Clark stated, "but we need your help; your help as a woman. Can you sit for a minute?" Auggie and Jai both looked away in embarrassment.

Emma raised an eyebrow, "Really? Ok, just a sec." She retreated to the bar and another server, talked to the server and the bartender for a minute before returning to the table. "Ok, I'm yours for 5 minutes." She said as she slid into the only empty chair at the table.

Clarke started by laying out the whole situation with Auggie, Annie and Parker. "What do you think he should do?" Clark finally asked her.

Emma took a breath. "Let me get this straight. You" she pointed at Auggie, "were engaged to Parker, but everyone else on the planet, including me, thought you and Annie were a couple. Correct?"

"Yes" Clark answered for him.

"Now, you are free to date Annie but you have put her in the friend category and these two are trying to make you see different."

Three heads nodded at her. "Ok, let's try this, close your eyes."

Auggie looked at her like she was crazy. "I'm blind. I don't need to close my eyes."

"Do it anyway." When he closed his eyes, she continued, "Picture both women in your head. Everything about them; everything that **is** them." She waited a second as a smile showed on Auggie's face. "Now, I'm going to say some things and you are going to match the statements with the person they apply to. Got it?" Auggie nodded.

Emma turned her head and gave the other two men at the table pointed looks. "You two do this as well. Picture the women in your lives." Both men reluctantly closed their eyes. "Alright, _'You're in my heart. You're in my soul. You'll be my breath should I grow old. You are my lover, you're my best friend. You're in my soul'_." She waited for a moment for the words to penetrate their brains. As she slid from her chair, three sets of eyes opened up. "I gotta get back. I hope that helped. Again, say thank you with money. I have two kids in college." She saw that their beer pitcher was nearly empty. "I'll bring another pitcher." And walked back to the bar.

"Well?" Clark asked while looking at Auggie but didn't get an answer.

"Auggie? You alright?" Jai asked as he looked at him. Auggie's face was pale and drawn, his eyes wide and his mouth set in a tight line.

Auggie cleared his throat but the lump wouldn't move. He took a small sip of beer, then a big sip of beer and finally a very large gulp of beer. He tried to speak again, "I…it was Annie." He said very quietly.

Clark's face brightens up, "Wow, Emma is smart."

"It wasn't me dear," Emma said as she put the new pitcher down. "Thank Rod Stewart for that piece of wisdom. That man and that voice, yum." She looked at all three men again, noting the looks on their faces and figuring out that she did in fact help; smiling as she left their table.


	6. Chapter 6

Greedy: Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own anything;

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed. I also really appreciate all the follows and favorites. Thanks very much! So don't forget: reviews are great and make me happy.

_**LAST CHAPTER: **_

_Auggie cleared his throat but the lump wouldn't move. He took a small sip of beer, then a big sip of beer and finally a very large gulp of beer. He tried to speak again, "I…it was Annie." He said very quietly._

_Clark's face brightens up, "Wow, Emma is smart."_

"_It wasn't me dear," Emma said as she put the new pitcher down. "Thank Rod Stewart for that piece of wisdom. That man and that voice, yum." She looked at all three men again, noting the looks on their faces and figuring out that she did in fact help; smiling as she left their table._

Clark looked at both men to see their reactions. Auggie looked stunned and Jai looked like he was going to be sick. "Jai? Who did you see?"

Jai cleared his throat, "Um, I saw…" he stopped as he adjusted his suit coat around him in an almost protective manner. He wasn't ready to admit to himself let alone anyone else that he saw Reva. They had just started to be really close. Could he really feel that way about her so soon? "Nobody" he said looking down at the table.

"Rrriiigghhtt" Clark said giving him the eye of disbelief. "I, however, didn't actually see anybody. That sucks!"

Auggie hadn't been paying any attention to either of them, but was seeing his last two years with Annie. All the times he found support in her when he didn't realize he needed it. All the times he supported her when he knew she needed it, all the drinks, sparring, laughter, even all the tears & fears when her missions went sideways. Right from that first mission when the room exploded into chaos, his immediate terror that she wasn't going to make; all of it should have been a tip off. _I just thought it was because a newbie was going to die on my watch._ _Apparently not. How did Joan put it? 'Two days and he is already apologizing for you?'_ He should have realized then that she meant more to him than just someone to get in his bed; especially when he didn't get her in his bed within the first month.

Then he thought about Stockholm and the aftermath. He gave her is precious Corvette. Is that really something you do for your Best Friend? He claimed it was to cheer her up, but who does that? That is something you do for someone you want to spend the rest of your life with. If Parker was 'the one' why didn't he give her the car? No, it was always Annie; it was because he trusted her with his everything. She's really the only one he trusts to lead him around the DPD or anywhere really. She's the one he trusts with what really happened in Tirkit. It was her voice in his head, pleading with him not to kill Nasir, the Jack of Diamonds. She's the one he trusts, period, full-stop. If he trusts her so much why hadn't he thought about trusting her with his heart and soul? According to Emma and Rod Stewart apparently he already did, he just hadn't realized it.

Auggie finally moved. It was to rub his hands over his face as he leaned back in his chair then grab his beer and down the remainder of the glass. Clark immediately filled it. By the look on Auggie's face, he needed it; just like last night.

He looked and Jai and filled his nearly empty glass as well. "Well isn't this just a ton of fun?" Clark asked. "Sitting in a bar loaded with hot co-eds and I'm sitting with two guys that just realized they are totally and completely in love. Joy to me." He picked up his beer and while taking a drink let his eyes wonder over to one of the hot co-eds in the bar. "In fact I'm going to go fall in love for a few hours with one of these Lovelies." He stood up to leave after filling his own glass with more beer and leaving $50 on the table. "Gentlemen, I wish you luck. You both need it." And with that he was gone.

The remaining two men sat in silence. As both were lost in thought neither of them registered Clark leaving until Jai looked up from staring at the table several minutes later. "Where'd he go?"

"Who?"

"Clark, he left." He noticed the money on the table. "At least he paid his part of the tab."

There was no answer from Auggie until "He's still here. Over at the table two tables to my left. Sounds like he is flirting and doing well." Auggie smiled. Now that the silence was broken Auggie found himself in a quandary. Keep talking with Jai, who he barely tolerated or head home and call Annie. He couldn't call Annie, she was busy with…. "SHIT!"

"What?" Jai asked

"Annie's out with Eyal tonight!"

"So? Be the Greedy Bastard and call her. Tell her you need to talk with her and it's important."

"What if she doesn't feel this way about me?"

"Dude, if you don't stop, I **will** punch you in the face. Why do you think I couldn't get anywhere with her? Why do you think no one has been able to get anywhere with her? Even Conrad? Pull your head out and call her."

Auggie took a deep breath in to make a retort but changed his mind and just smiled. Suddenly Jai felt hands come around and cover his eyes and a breathy whispered "Guess who?"

If anyone could see his face they would see him flash that million dollar smile. He gently took her hands and spun in his seat to face her. "Reva! I thought you had to work?"

She shrugged one shoulder, "I had motivation to get it done as fast as possible." She smiled shyly at him. "Hey Auggie."

"Hi Reva. Glad you're here. Now you can take him away and leave me in peace. He's been nagging me."

"Trying to convince you to ask out Annie? I don't see why you don't, you love her, she loves you. You two are perfect together."

Auggie just dropped his head onto his arms that were crossed on the table. "Et tu. Reva?" he mumbled just loud enough for the other two people to hear.

Reva chuckled at him as Jai stood and pulled a chair out for her to sit then took his seat next to her, pulling himself right next to her, smiling as he did. "Actually, he just learned that he is very much in love with her and that he IS going to ask her out." He had been leaning closer to her as he spoke and finally on the last word, he kissed her 'hello' as his heart beat a rhythm that was faster than any hard rock band out there. "And I like the idea of us leaving if you want to. I know you have had a long day and are probably tired. I know I am." He said with a lecherous grin. Reva blushed at the look on his face and in his eyes. She loved that look but wasn't used to it yet.

"Leaving sounds great, I am VERY tired." She said with a similar look on her face.

Jai grabbed his wallet and left $50 on the table. Auggie still had his head on his arms when Jai spoke. "Anderson, here's a $50 for my part of the tab. Don't forget to 'Say thank you with money', she does have two kids in college and I would say she earned it." And with that he and Reva were gone. Auggie heard a small, "bye Auggie" from Reva as they left the bar but he didn't raise his head, just an arm to wave goodbye.

Not even a minute later, "Auggie? You ok?" Emma asked.

Auggie raised his head and looked in her direction. He pulled two $50 bills from his wallet and handed them to her. "This plus what's on the table should cover our tab, I hope. And can you call me a cab? I'm ready to go."

Emma looked at the four $50 bills, "Auggie this is like a 100% tip."

"Yep, we all agreed that you earned it. 'Say thank you with money, I have two kids in college.' Yea, you definitely earned it."

Emma was shocked, thrilled and happy she could help them out. "Thanks Auggie. I'll get you that cab." Auggie smiled his thanks as he stood up, unfolded his cane and made his way to the door.

_Now to release my inner Greedy Bastard and call Annie, _he thought. As he reached the door, he grabbed his phone and pressed speed dial #1. He smiled to himself as he realized that Parker was speed dial #4 behind Joan and Langley. Yet another clue about where Annie fit in his life.

She picked up on the third ring. "Hey Auggie. What's up?"

Auggie winced because she definitely didn't sound like he just woke her up but he still said "Did I wake you? I'm sorry."

Annie noticed the complete lack of sincerity in his apology. "No you didn't. What's up?" She asked again.

"Can we get together tomorrow? Maybe lunch or a walk or something?"

"Umm…sure, ok. I can pick you up at about 1pm? Walk down to the reservoir sound good?"

"Sounds great! Thanks. See you tomorrow. Bye"

"Bye."

Auggie closed his phone and got in the cab for the ride home. He had a smile on his face and plan in his head.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own anything; and I appreciate the loan of Rod Stewart and his song. I hope he doesn't mind. Please don't mind Rod. I love your work. Side note: I started this story before the idea to include the song came to me.

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed. I also really appreciate all the follows and favorites. Thanks very much! So don't forget: reviews are great and make me happy.

This is a VERY long chapter for me and the last in this story. It was really hard to write so I hope you enjoy it.

CACACACACACACACACA

As soon as Auggie got home, he booted up his computer and logged into his itunes account. He found and down loaded the song and listened to the entire song for the first time.

_I didn't know what day it was  
When you walked into the room  
I said hello unnoticed  
You said goodbye too soon_

Breezing through the clientele  
Spinning yarns that were so lyrical  
I really must confess right here  
The attraction was purely physical

I took all those habits of yours  
That in the beginning were hard to accept  
Your fashion sense, beardsly prints  
I put down to experience

The big bosomed lady with the dutch accent  
Who tried to change my point of view  
Her ad lib lines were well rehearsed  
But my heart cried out for you

_Chorus:_

You're in my heart, you're in my soul  
You'll be my breath should i grow old  
You are my lover, you're my best friend  
You're in my soul

My love for you is immeasurable  
My respect for you immense  
You're ageless, timeless, lace and fineness  
You're beauty and elegance

You're a rhapsody, a comedy  
You're a symphony and a play  
You're every love song ever written  
But honey what do you see in me

(chorus)

You're an essay in glamour  
Please pardon the grammar  
But you're every schoolboy's dream  
You're celtic, united, but baby i've decided  
You're the best team i've ever seen

And there have been many affairs  
Many times i've thought to leave  
But i bite my lip and turn around  
'cause you're the warmest thing i've ever found

(chorus)

"Damn, this song really is about Annie and I." Auggie was very surprised. He put the song on constant replay. Sitting at his computer, he closed his eyes and just listened to the song over and over again seeing in his head everything that said 'Annie' to him. When he discovered he couldn't feel his butt anymore, he checked his watch to discover it was already almost 3am. He stretched, stood up and headed to bed with his new favorite song still playing in the background.

He was awoken several hours later by an explosion that went off right next to his head. He sat bolt up in bed, reaching for his weapon while searching around in the darkness for the enemy. It took a couple of frantic minutes before he realized where he was and that the explosion was a clap of thunder. As he mind came around to the present, his ears picked up the rain flooding down his windows.

Calming his heart and taking several deep even breaths, he leaned over and pushed the button on his bedside clock, "8:22am". The song was still playing throughout his apartment reminding him of everything he wanted to do today. Smiling but very nervous he decided that it was time to get up and face the day and all that it was going to contain.

Showered, dressed and with coffee in his hand he turned off the music and called Annie.

"Auggie!" Annie's happy voice answered her phone.

"Hey Walker, I don't think our walk is going to be a good idea today. How about you come over, picking up something to eat on your way and we have a day in?"

"Sounds like a good plan, Anderson. Be there around noon? With Thai food?"

"Extra spicy! Love it. See you then. Oh wait. Can you bring over paper plates or bowls or whatever we need? I haven't replaced the dishes yet."

She laughed, "You bought coffee mugs but no plates?"

"Thought that might be something we can do together since you're the one who's gotta look at them."

"Ok, whatever, not a problem. See you then." She hung up while still chuckling.

Auggie put his phone down, turned the music back on and just waited, working out what he was going to say and what she would say and how this day was going to go.

Just before noon, Annie showed up with bags of food, beer and paper plates & plastic cups. As she walked in the door she looked at Auggie. He had a smile on his face but she was suspicious. "How're you feeling today, Aug?" She asked as she put all the bags on the island and started to unpack them, moving the food to the coffee table.

He pulled out two bottles of beer from the six-pack she brought before turning to the fridge and putting the rest of them away. "I'm better today than I was yesterday and yesterday was better than the day before. You were right and I thank you for it. How are you? How's Eyal?" Auggie cringed and could have slapped himself when he asked that, it sounded jealous even to his own ears.

Annie looked at him skeptically but let it slide. "Fine, I guess. His vacation was cut short. He was recalled to King Saul and left last night." Changing the subject, "I'm hungry. Let's eat." They both sat on the sofa and Annie described what they were eating and where on the table she had placed it.

They had been eating in almost silence, only commenting on the deliciousness of the food, for about 15 minutes when Auggie suddenly put his food down and leaned back on the sofa. "What's wrong?" Annie asked around a mouthful of food.

Auggie rubbed his hands over his face and looked at her. "I wanna come clean. Talk about Parker and everything."

Annie swallowed her mouthful of food, "Ok, talk". She had known this is what he really wanted from her, a friendly ear to dump on and as his best friend she would listen, but she really didn't want to hear the details. She placed her paper plate still with a lot of food on it, on the table and grabbed her beer. Taking a long and deep gulp of it, she turned herself to more fully face him.

Auggie felt her shift her position on the sofa and leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees, still looking in her direction. "I got engaged to Parker because it made me feel normal."

"Normal?"

"Yea, wife, kids, dog. Normal."

"Who are you Ward Cleaver? Normal for us Auggie isn't normal for the rest of the world."

Auggie smiled, "So I have come to realize. You know the last three days have kind of been a figurative 'slap Auggie in the face' three days."

"Not just figurative." Annie sing songed with a smile.

He cracked a bigger smile, "Yea, I guess. You're not going to do that again are you?" He asked while giving her a weary look.

"Do I need to?"

"I don't think so, Million Dollar Baby." Auggie said with a real smile.

"Not that funny Aug," Annie replied. "So you wanted to be Ward Cleaver. What does that have to do with Parker?"

"I saw her as my way to get that."

"Is that what she wanted? I thought she was in the Peace Corps? Doesn't sound like she wanted to be a wife right then."

Auggie's face drew into a deep frown. "No. She wanted to be a wife, just not yet and I don't think I was the one she wanted it with." He paused, "I think she was right and that we were using each other to hang on to Billy, onto our past."

Annie wanted to say something but she thought this was something he had to work out on his own. She would be his rock right now, but she was more sandstone than granite. She felt like she was crumbling with him as she watched his emotions play across his face and through his deep eyes. She remained silent as she put her beer on the table, only then taking his hand in her hand and giving it a squeeze.

Auggie took her hand in both of his, "I think we both needed each other to get over what happened in Tikrit. I thought I had dealt with it all, but apparently not so much."

She waited, again in silence, for him to continue.

"So, when she left me, all I wanted was to drink all the pain away with my best friend at my side. Instead I met Clark. We talked and drank and he called me a greedy bastard. You remember him?"

Annie squeezed his hand again, "I remember him, he was kinda funny."

"He helped me realize I have been a greedy bastard." He said it flatly, like he expected her to figure out what he was talking about.

After waiting for him to continue, she finally asked, "Greedy bastard about what?"

"You. I've been a greedy bastard about you. Annie all those times I called you in when you were on dates, I did that on purpose." He kept talking, hoping she wouldn't interrupt him or kill him before he got it out. "I didn't realize I was doing it, but, I guess I was. There were other ops that could have done what needed doing, but I wanted you there, to be with me. And when it was over, you would go home, alone, I would be able to go home to Parker. Annie, I didn't want you to be with anyone else. I wanted you to be with me, I didn't want to share you. I was being greedy and a bastard. Annie, it was so unfair and I'm so sorry; but honest, I didn't realize that's what I was doing."

During his speech Annie had pulled her hand out of his grasp and just stared at him.

"Annie, please say something." Annie got off the sofa and started to pace around the room. He took a deep breath and decided to continue. _If she isn't going to talk and she's going to hate me anyway, better to get it all out in the open now_, he thought.

"I went to the tavern last night again. Jai showed up and then Clark joined us. We got to talking about everything and then Clark asked Emma, our server, to help us out. Something about three men sitting in a bar talking about feelings was wrong and we needed a woman's help. She came over and said some stuff and helped me realize that you are everything to me Annie and that I'm in love with you."

Annie stopped pacing at that statement and stared at him with her eyes wide open and her mouth open. Finally, "You Love Me? Auggie! You were ENGAGED for Christ's sakes. What the hell?"

"Annie…" but she interrupted him and he just dropped his head down to his chest.

"NO!..no no no no." Annie started to pace again. "You tell me that in three day's time, you went from being engaged to broken hearted to being in love with me? Because of something Emma said? Is that what you want me to believe?"

"Yes, because it's the truth."

She glared and scoffed at him for that while still pacing like a caged cat.

"It's true! Stop pacing and listen, please?" At the hint of desperation in his voice, she stopped her pacing and plopped herself down on the sofa; the other end of the sofa so she was out of arms reach. "Ok, Emma asked me, well she didn't really ask me more as she said some stuff and then it made sense and then I was shocked and I couldn't believe her and then Jai said some more stuff…"

"Auggie!"

"Rambling, right, sorry, I'm nervous. Ok, can you hear the song playing?"

"Yea, haven't had a choice but to hear it, it's been on the same song since I got here. I didn't even know you were a Rod Stewart fan."

"I wasn't until last night. Do you know this song?"

"Yea, it's one of my Mom's favorites. I grew up listening to it. What's that got to do with anything?"

"The chorus." He spoke the words to her, "'_You're in my heart, you're in my soul, you'll be my breath should I grow old, you are my lover, you're my best friend, you're in my soul.'_ Annie that's what you are to me. The rest of the song is pretty much us as well."

"Ok…" Annie says slowly. "So…you say you're in love with me because of a song? What do you want from me?"

That took him by surprise. In all the scenarios that he imagined, not one of them contained her asking him that. Falling into his arms saying she loved him too? Hell yes! Laughing her head off at him? Yes. But not that one. So he said the first thing that came to mind, fortunately it was also the truth, "I want us to be together." He said simply.

She took a deep cleansing breath, "Auggie, since you're being honest with me, I will be honest as well, I'm in love with you too but I'm not sure I want to be with you right now." His face fell. "I deserve better than to be your re-bound girl. Just because you finally decided that Hoover-era 'normal'" she air quoted around the word, "isn't for people like us and that Rod Stewart knows his shit doesn't make everything alright. And as much as I love that song, will you please shut it off!"

Auggie got off the sofa and turned the song off. "Annie, you are NOT my re-bound girl. I think that was Parker because…Wait, you're in love with me? Really?" She watched the hope enter his eyes as he sent her a huge smile and returned to the sofa, sitting closer to her than before. "Since when?"

She was warmed by what she saw in his eyes and on his face, but she had to stay firm. "Auggie", she said in a warning tone. "This isn't about me, this about you."

"Just tell me, since when? 'Cause looking back on the first two years that I have known you, I think I fell for you on that first day; on your first mission."

"Auggie, why would Parker be your re-bound girl?" Annie asked to get him back on track.

He reached for her hand, instinctively knowing exactly where she was, "'Cause she isn't you. She could never be you. Do you know where she is on my speed dial? #4. You are #1, Langley is #2 and Joan is #3. Like you said, we aren't normal people; we are spies and no one gets us like another spy. Please, I want to be with you. You are my number 1, not my number 4.

"But I do want you to understand that I did and maybe still do love her. I'm not that callus that I just used her. I see now that she helped me get over one of the worst times in my life and I think I helped her get over one of the worst times in her life. But what she and I had is small compared to what we could have together. No, it's small compared to what we have right now with just our friendship. And it can only get better. If you will have me."

She shook her head, took her hand back, grabbed her now warm, flat beer and drained the bottle, "Auggie, I do want to be with you but, we are so going to take this slow. I know intra-agency dating is encouraged, but you DID just get out a relationship, I'm not willing to just jump into a relationship with you and have it explode on me.

"This is going to take time and effort on both our parts, I think. We have both been burned and I want this to work. Agreed?"

"Agreed." Auggie said smiling bigger than he had in a long time. Annie couldn't help it, she copied his smile and he could actually feel the joy coming off her.

They stopped talking and just looked at each other, then blushed and looked away. "Okay, our first awkward pause. Now that that is out of the way, where would you like to go on our first date?" Auggie asked.

Annie broke out in laughter, when she calmed down she suggested "How about we finish our cold Thai food and warm beer and watch a movie? That was our plan to begin with and it's still raining outside. This can be our first date."

"But we do this all the time, how's that a good first date?"

"It's been a while since we just hung out together. We've already had one weird pause, let's keep this casual and see if we can't rebuild what we had before."

"I love that idea." He said as he leaned forward and found his food and warm beer. Leaning back into the sofa, he felt Annie leave the sofa and return a minute later placing something on the table.

She curled up next to him with her own plate of food and said, "New beer at 10 o'clock." He knew right then that with time and patience they were going to be ok and he wouldn't need to be a greedy bastard anymore.


End file.
